Like Kelsay, this a burning subject for me as a gentile too!
Glad you're soliciting from us!
I disagree with Kelsay that we as gentiles need to be "under the Torah". That covenant was not made with us at Sinai. We are not "under Torah" for our own good, it's haShem's grace to us, since we are weaker than our Jewish brethren in respect to the Jewish way of life. HOWEVER, we ARE meant to keep as much Torah as we can...it's to our credit in heaven!!! If a gentile keeps Shabbat, for example, it is to his/her heavenly credit! And that heavenly reward, incidentally, is not doled out to the Jew! A Jew takes upon the "covenant" in order to fulfill it completely, no exceptions, and for no other glory than simply doing what a Jew should do. The Jew's reward for keeping Torah is simply the blessing of being prospered in the land of Israel (along with all those blessings that are spelled out in Deuteronomy). If a gentile choses to, he can convert and place him (or herself) under the Torah. If he does so, he is liable to keep the entire Torah after circumcision. If he falls, he falls hard, and discouraged he/she shall simply turn away, where as once he would simply have been blessed. This is what Paul is getting at. Better to remain a righteous gentile than become a lapsed Jew. This is what Yeshua is getting at, "Woe to you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, for you cross land and sea to find one convert and, finding one, you turn him into twice the son of hell that you are!" The yoke of Torah is simply too heavy on a gentile, especially if he has bad or even mediocre teachers.
Hold on, don't be offended, MJ's! The heavenly credit reserved for the gentiles is not to reward us gentiles over you guys! We gentiles don't have a "free break" from the Torah either! Our "God-fearing" status only gives us gentiles some leverage in order to be a part of the Kingdom, and to bring you honor...how does that verse go (in Zechariah I believe)? "In that day, ten gentile women will take hold of one Jew, etc."
Heavenly reward DOES come to the Jew, but for a totally different reason!!!
Yeshua gave his Jewish disciples a new doctrine, he made with them a new Brit, a Brit Hadashah. What Brit Hadashah is that? The Brit of Jer. 31:31-34, a Brit that haShem Himself will write upon their hearts instead of the Brit handed down on tablets of stone.
What is the content of the Brit haHadashah? John 1:17 says: "
For the Torah came through Moses, 'Hesed v'emet' came through Yeshua haMashiaH." "Hesed" is usually translated "Grace" or "Lovingkindness", but what it actually means is "extreme loyalty". "Emet" is usually translated "truth" but in Hebrew this word actually has the connotation of "faithfulness" (such a meaning is lost in Greek, but do a lexical study on "emet", aleph-mem-tav, and you will see what I mean). "Grace" and "truth" in Hebrew are actually nearly synonimous, they mean together "extreme loyalty and faithfulness".
In the Rabbinic writings there is law that takes precedence over the laws of Torah, it is the mitzvah of Hesed, lit. the "commandment of Lovingkindness". The Rabbis searched for the "Works of Hesed v'emet" in the Tenakh in order to get a better handle on what that law might be. The words "to do Hesed v'emet" ("to do extreme loyalty and faithfulness") are found in several interesting passages of the Tenakh, but I can't get into them at this point. I will list these in my next post if anyone is interested.
The Rabbis came to one tremendous conclusion (actually a conclusion probably arrived at by Rabban Hillel one generation before Yeshua) that the command of "Hesed v'emet" was simply to imitate God, "to do the works of the Father". In order to become a "son of God", which is a higher calling than simply a "son of Abraham" in the flesh, one must do the "works of God", Who shows us "extreme loyalty and faithfulness" in all of His actions towards us, even to those of us who don't deserve God's kindness. Yeshua was teaching this new law when he said "Love your enemy...for God causes the rain to fall and sun shine on the wicked as well as the righteous." The Law of Hesed (or "Law of Faith" as Paul calls it) goes far, far beyond what the Torah expects of you! The Torah simply commands "love your neighbor as yourself", or "love your neighbor who is like you" (in Hebrew the latter meaning is more accurate--Yeshua expands the command to include non-Jews, incidentally. In Rabbinic-speak, he "built a fence around the Torah" in the parable of the Good Samaritan by interpreting the "neighbor" as "whoever treats you as a Jew should"). But Yeshua positted an even more drastic command by stating: "Love your enemy". Not even the Rabbis went as far Yeshua in this radical command (the Psalms of David, for one, advocate hatred towards our enemies). But Yeshua understood the heart of God, which has "rav Hesed", and so he taught us to have the same forbearance towards our enemies, just as God had forbearance and kindness on the Israelites in the wilderness, despite all of their faults.
After imploring his disciples to love one another and to "abide in me" (do the works of the Father), Yeshua tells them, "
I no longer call you servants, for the slave does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you my friends, for all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (John 15:15). His disciples know the Father's business now, they have learned to do the works of the Father, the works of Hesed v'emet--this is what he had been teaching them for 3 and half years. He wrote in their hearts the Brit haHadashah. The heart, according to the Proverbs, was made up out of "shnei luHot" (two tablets), on which two sets of commandments are written:
One set of commandments that are written on one "luaH libekha", "tablet of the heart", is found in Prov 7.2-3:
Keep my commandments and live; And my Torah as the apple your eye.
Bind them upon your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.
The commandments of "Torah" are to be written on one's heart, the Torah that was given through Moses (John 1.17a).
Another set of commandments are written on the second "tablet of the heart" in Prov 3.3:
Do not let Hesed v'emet (Lovingkindness and Faithfulness)
leave you;
Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart.
The commandments of "Hesed v'emet" came through Yeshua haMashiaH (John 1.17b).
Barukh haShem!
